Chelsea continue to splurge on signing Gusto

The France Under-21 international has signed a seven-and-a-half-year contract at Stamford Bridge but will spend the rest of the 2022-23 season on loan at Lyon.

Gusto, who has made 54 appearances for Lyon since his debut in January 2021, would have cost Chelsea £26.3m (€29.9m) plus various add-ons.

He becomes Chelsea’s seventh signing of the window following the arrivals of Mykhaylo Mudryk, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Andrey Santos, David Datro Fofana and Joao Felix, the latter on loan from Atletico Madrid.

The 19-year-old attacking full-back will provide long-term competition and cover for Reece James, who has missed the majority of this season through injury.

There are rumors that Chelsea are still in the hunt for a central midfielder, having so far been frustrated in their bid to sign Argentina World Cup star Enzo Fernandez from Benfica.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en" xml:lang="en">The youngest of Chelsea: Malo Gusto! <a href="https://t.co/wIQ3LkNR9p" rel="nofollow">pic.twitter.com/wIQ3LkNR9p</a>

– Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) January 29, 2023